# Stern Pinball Thinks You're Stupid

**Source:** Cary Hardy  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2023-01-10  
**Duration:** 4m 14s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8R8eNBzePQ

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## Analysis

Cary Hardy criticizes Stern Pinball for misleading marketing language around the Bond 60th Anniversary Edition topper, claiming it was advertised as 'exclusive' when it's only exclusive to the 60th tier. He presents what he claims is an internal email from Eric Gilley to US distributors attempting to clarify the confusion, then satirically 'corrects' the email to acknowledge accountability, and criticizes Stern's lack of accountability culture based on a claim that the word 'accountability' doesn't appear in their employee handbook.

### Key Claims

- [MEDIUM] An internal email from Eric Gilley was sent to US Stern distributors clarifying that the topper shown in the promotional video is exclusive to the 60th Anniversary Edition only, not included with Pro/Premium/LE — _Cary claims to have obtained an internal distributor email from Eric Gilley; the email is read aloud but cannot be independently verified from the video alone_
- [HIGH] Stern's promotional video for Bond 60th Anniversary used the word 'exclusive' to describe the topper, creating consumer confusion about whether it was exclusive or included across all tiers — _Cary references his previous video where he defined the term 'exclusive' and states the promotional video showed 'exclusive topper' language_
- [LOW] The word 'accountability' does not appear in the Stern Pinball Employee Handbook — _Cary claims to have obtained the handbook and states the word is not found; this is unverifiable from the video and presented partially as satire/critique_
- [MEDIUM] Stern's marketing team confused the words 'included' and 'exclusive' as interchangeable — _Cary paraphrases the alleged Eric Gilley email as explaining the error; presented as the official explanation_

### Notable Quotes

> "There seems to be some confusion over the topper. Not on our end. The confusion is not on this side of the field. It's on your stern."
> — **Cary Hardy (critiquing Stern's email language)**, ~1:30
> _Cary points out Stern's failure to take responsibility by blaming 'confusion' rather than acknowledging their mistake in promotional messaging_

> "Someone on your team fucked up. And now we confused No Hold up let me turn on some knobs here and we gonna filter out the bullshit that in this message"
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~2:00
> _Cary begins to satirize the email by 'filtering out' what he sees as corporate doublespeak and lack of accountability_

> "We fucked up. In the promotional video for the 60th anniversary edition, when showing the topper, it shows the verbiage exclusive topper. What this means is that someone in the marketing area screwed up."
> — **Cary Hardy (satirical 'corrected' version of Stern's email)**, ~2:30
> _Cary rewrites the Stern email to explicitly acknowledge fault, contrasting with what he sees as the original's evasive tone_

> "All we ask is that you own it."
> — **Cary Hardy (to Stern)**, ~4:30
> _Cary's core critique: Stern should take direct accountability rather than using corporate language to obscure responsibility_

> "The word accountability is nowhere to be found. Awesome."
> — **Cary Hardy (sarcastically, after checking employee handbook)**, ~3:45
> _Satirical commentary suggesting Stern's organizational culture lacks accountability mechanisms_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Cary Hardy | person | Content creator and pinball community critic; produces video commentary on Stern Pinball marketing and accountability issues |
| Eric Gilley | person | US Director of Sales for Stern Pinball; allegedly sent internal email to distributors clarifying topper exclusivity confusion |
| Stern Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer criticized for misleading promotional marketing language and alleged lack of organizational accountability |
| Bond 60th Anniversary Edition | product | James Bond 60th anniversary pinball game in four tiers (Pro, Premium, LE, 60th); central product in the topper exclusivity dispute |
| Marketing department (Stern Pinball) | organization | Allegedly responsible for confusing 'exclusive' vs 'included' language in Bond 60th promotional video; unnamed in official responsibility |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Marketing messaging clarity and accuracy, Product tier differentiation (Pro/Premium/LE/60th Anniversary), Corporate accountability and transparency, Topper bundling and exclusivity
- **Secondary:** Consumer confusion from promotional materials, Stern Pinball's communication to distributors

### Sentiment

**Negative** (-0.85) — Cary Hardy expresses strong frustration and sarcasm toward Stern Pinball's marketing error and perceived lack of accountability. While he frames some critique as dark humor, the underlying message is critical of Stern's corporate culture and communication practices. The satire is clearly antagonistic.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Pattern of corporate doublespeak and lack of accountability in Stern's official communications (confidence: medium) — Cary contrasts Stern's cautious email language with what he views as an evasive failure to acknowledge fault; claims accountability is absent from employee handbook
- **[community_signal]** Marketing confusion around Bond 60th Anniversary topper exclusivity has sparked community concern and distributor clarification needs (confidence: high) — Cary references his previous video on the topic and presents an internal Stern email attempting to clarify consumer/distributor confusion over topper bundling
- **[market_signal]** Stern's promotional video used ambiguous language ('exclusive topper') that misrepresented product inclusion, requiring internal clarification (confidence: high) — Eric Gilley email states promotional video showed 'exclusive topper' verbiage; email clarifies topper is exclusive to 60th tier only and must be purchased separately for other tiers
- **[personnel_signal]** Eric Gilley, US Director of Sales at Stern, was tasked with clarifying distributor confusion over marketing messaging, suggesting his role includes damage control (confidence: medium) — Email attributed to Eric Gilley addressed to US Stern dealers; Cary has previously documented concerns about Gilley's social media posts regarding company direction
- **[market_signal]** Topper is positioned as exclusive/premium feature for 60th Anniversary tier, suggesting tier differentiation strategy via bundled accessories (confidence: medium) — Email confirms topper comes only with 60th edition; other tiers must purchase separately, indicating accessory pricing differentiation across tiers
- **[product_strategy]** Bond 60th Anniversary uses exclusive topper as a key differentiation point for the premium 60th tier versus Pro/Premium/LE models (confidence: medium) — Email explicitly states topper is 'exclusive to the 60th only' and other tiers 'will have to be purchased separately'

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## Transcript

If I'm reading this correctly, and this is official, there's going to be language in this video. Now in my last video, I made it pretty damn clear about the word exclusive. I even included the definition just so happens that I did that out of just maybe that Stern might eventually respond to the fact of how they fucked this up. And lo and behold, yes, they have responded. Now, this email obviously wasn't sent out to the public. As stated at the very beginning of it, it is sent out to all the U.S. Stern distributors. Now, allegedly, this is from Eric Gilley. he is the US Director of Sales for Stern Pinball. The message reads, Good afternoon US Stern Dealers There seems to be some confusion over the topper In the promotional video for the 60th anniversary edition when showing the topper it shows the verbiage exclusive topper What this means is that for the four 007 editions, Pro, Premium, LE, and 60th, the topper is exclusive to the 60th only. Meaning, this is the only model that it comes with the game when a customer purchases it. Eric Gilley. The last portion of that sentence makes me almost stroke out. That could have been worded so much better. There seems to be some confusion over the topper. Not on our end. The confusion is not on this side of the field. It's on your stern. You seem to be confused on who's to blame. Not the consumers. You. Someone on your team fucked up. And now we confused No Hold up let me turn on some knobs here and we gonna filter out the bullshit that in this message Whoa, this message looks a lot different now. Good afternoon, U.S. Stern dealers. We fucked up. In the promotional video for the 60th anniversary edition, when showing the topper, it shows the verbiage exclusive topper. What this means is that someone in the marketing area screwed up. They thought the word included and exclusive were interchangeable. Just to clarify, the 60th will be the only model to include this topper. The other three tiers will have to be purchased separately. We apologize for any inconveniences this may have caused you, and we will make sure this does not happen in the future. Thanks. Seems pretty legit. It baffles me, but also makes me giggle a little bit inside when I see messages like this, because a lot of the times it doublespeak or cover and there no accountability As a matter of fact guys I know someone on the inside they just happened to get me the Stern Employee Handbook So we going to look in here and see if we could find anything that has to do with accountability. That's weird. The word accountability is nowhere to be found. Awesome. Nobody's perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. I make them all the time. More than likely this video was going to be one of them. All we ask is that you own it. I'm going to do you a favor there, Stern. I'm even going to fix your video for you. That took me five minutes. Feel free to send me a check. Bye.

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 98ed2ed1-2317-47d0-a367-8905da71043b*